Seeing Is Believing
by ElvesAreEpic
Summary: Everything seems to be going just fine for the sons of Elrond and the prince of Mirkwood on their latest adventure… that is until Legolas vanishes without a trace.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I'm back! I'm also off to see the Hobbit…and Legolas! Anyway, this is a special gift for Legolas on Friday the 13th. This might also help with those of us whose weather is freezing think warm thoughts! Unlike the last story I did durning winter time. **

**Disclaimer: not mine **

**Thanks to my beta :) **

Seeing Is Believing

Chapter One

"This is the _hottest_, I swear by the Valar, that I have ever been!" Aragon complained through heavy breathing, tugging at his collar in hope to allow some heat to escape.

"Only to you, Estel." Elladan stated, rolling his eyes. The twins, Aragorn and Legolas had chosen to spend some time away from Imladris when the elven prince and come to visit them, hoping to escape the bustling house hold for a while. The weather, which had started out hot, but bearable, had becoming increasing stifling the longer they traveled.

Aragorn growled, swiping at the sweat beading on his brow before running his hand through his disheveled hair as he climbed a small hill, trampling the brown, shriveled up grass underneath his feet. "When I pass out because of a heat stroke, you will no longer be laughing." He muttered, yanking his water skin out and taking a deep drought.

"Don't worry, next time we are together we can go somewhere nice and freezing cold!" Legolas called from behind the man, clapping his shoulder as he pasted him.

"Thanks…" came the sarcastic reply as Aragorn rolled his eyes. Elrohir laughed at that, shaking his head as the human started forward again.

"At least this time we are here to keep you out of trouble!" he teased a bright gleam in his eyes.

"What, Aragorn get into trouble?!" Legolas called back, springing up on a rock and turning around to face the others.

"Shut up, elf!" the human growled in frustration. "Let's ―let's just keep moving until we find shade, because then I won't feel like forcing all three of you to feel misery like I am right now1." He finished stomping past his friend and brothers. The streaming hot weather was making the young man grumpy and only slightly jealous that the elves were totally immune. Legolas just rolled his eyes, throwing the man a humored expression.

Only an hour later they stopped, it was stifling hot and Aragorn was threatening to do something serious unless they made camp, preferable somewhere shady. Besides, there was no need for them to hurry anywhere.

Aragorn flopped down under a straggly tree, sighing with relief in the minuscule amount of shade. He was _hot_. Grabbing his water skin, he was half tempted to pour it over his head but was refrained from doing so as he spotted Legolas walking his direction.

"Do _not _make me get up right now, or else I might kill you." He murmured, only half-joking. "You elves who are so superior to humans can do the work." Legolas laughed lightly, tugging the man's water skin from his hand.

"You need a bath. You stink of sweat." Legolas said, wrinkling up his nose. Laughter behind them made them look up.

"Not you too…" Aragorn groaned, knowing that this would not be the last he heard about it. Elladan and Elrohir just shrugged, devilishly grins crossing their faces, before going back to setting up camp. Legolas rose from where he was next to the man.

"I'm going in search of more water; we are running low and haven't found any yet today." He explained at the man's questioning look. He already had his and one of the twin's with him as he would be leaving a full on behind. No one made a reply to his statement as Elladan started a fire and Elrohir worked on dinner. Aragorn had his eyes closed again against the heat, attempting to conserve the coolness and shade.

As Legolas walked away, he smiled hearing Aragorn complain,

"_Why _do we need to start fire, it's already too hot, wait until it has cooled down some!"

The prince snickered, shaking his head and lengthening his steps as he headed west in search of precious water. He needed to hurry if he wanted to get back any time soon, as he expected he would need to search far and wide before he found any of the liquid, as most of the small streams in the area had dried up.

Legolas was proved correct in his thinking. He had been traveling for a good hour when he crested a hill and came to an abrupt halt. The ground dropped sharply off, changing into a gully…and just past it one the horizon as a faint shimmer, which could only mean water.

_Finally! _He elf thought, carefully making his way down the steep incline. The slope was made of soft sand and lose rock, making the descent treacherous.

Reaching the ground safely, Legolas began to clamber up the other side quickly, humming softly to himself. The climb was hard, making his breathe came in shorter gasp than normal and his muscles began to ache, for the hill was steep and the ground lose, causing it to slide out for under his feet if he tried to put too much wait on it.

Scrambling over the side, Legolas took a moment to breathe deeply, glad to be out of the deep gully. A light breeze teased his hair, making it float back behind him, as the sun began to lower in the sky, staining the sky red and gold. Legolas smile at the sight, as he hurried over to the slow-flowing stream, eager to refreshing his thirst and get back to the son's of Elrond.

Despite his hurry, Legolas took a moment, feeling the cool water brush his finger tips. It felt good. Filling all three of the water skins the prince swung them over his shoulder, raising gracefully to his feet and preparing to make his way back.

Suddenly he froze the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. Swiveling on his heels he turned slowly and quietly, swinging his bow and notching an arrow while doing so. Something was out there…

Almost instantly, he caught sight of a glowing pair of large, yellow eyes. Legolas's blue eyes narrowed instantly as he stretched his yew bow out, the tip of the arrow brushing against his cheek as he pinpointed the creature right between the eyes, waiting to shoot until he knew for sure what it was. The creature was hidden in the long, dead, grasses, making the vegetation shake as it moved forward, creeping ever so slowly towards its prey.

The creature suddenly leapt, jaws gaping widely with sharp, yellowing teeth glinting in the dying light, the fur covering its body was matted and filthy. The warg was half-way through the air when the elf's arrow lodged itself in his throat. It crumpled down, letting out a sharp, gasping, yowl before breathing its last. Legolas drew another arrow, keeping his senses out as he stepped over to the dead animal.

_Wargs don't usually travel alone_… Legolas thought, his brow creasing as he sensed something behind him. Whirling around, Legolas froze. Two mean looking wargs were running straight for him, letting out distinct howls of their own as they caught the stench of death, making their small minds go crazy for blood.

Firing another arrow, the prince did not have time to see if it hit or not before dropping to his stomach as a whoosh of air passed over his head. A fourth warg had leapt over his head, hitting a ground with a thud.

Re-notching a third arrow, Legolas and the wargs stood still, measuring the other up. The wargs were thin and ragged, obviously in need of a good meal, unfortunately for Legolas; he was the only edible thing around.

The animals stocked together, beginning to position themselves around the prince, and making sure he couldn't make a run for it. They were desperate and blood crazy form the death of their own kin, a nasty combination for an already deadly animal. Legolas's bow was pulled to full but still waited for the opportune moment to do something, skillfully changing targets from one second to the next as the wargs circled him.

Finally, after several tenses seconds, a warg leapt. Letting the arrow fly, Legolas did not have time to watch if it struck true as a different warg hurtled forward, using the elf's distraction to catch the side of his head with a heavy paw, knocking the elf down. Before it could do much else, however, Legolas was sticking the arrow through its neck.

Blood began to drip into the elven prince's eye from a deep cut from the warg's claws, hindering his sight as he pulled another arrow back, firing yet again.

It missed by a millimeter, scratching a warg as if flew past. But now the time for arrows was over and he dropped the wooden weapon to the ground, pulling his twin knives free he clutched them in his fist, practically daring the animals to come for him with his body action, which they gladly did.

The fight was short but furious and within in a few moments another warg was dead, but not without leaving its mark. Three deep gashes were spilling blood from Legolas's forearm, staining the sleeve on his tunic a deep crimson and making his grasp in the knife slippery.

Spinning around to face the last one, he found that he was too late. The warg had leapt before Legolas had even finished his turn, crashing into him and sent them both sprawling dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.

The warg howled, his breath almost making the sensitive elf gag, and lowered his great jaws towards the elf below him, ready to end his life with a snap of the powerful teeth. Legolas hands wove themselves into the wargs matted hair, struggling to push its head away from his exposed neck as they wrestled. Dust billowed up around them from the dry ground, hiding the danger they were truly in as the cliff edge come closer and closer.

Legolas held the warg off, attempting to smash the wargs head into the ground hard enough to stun it, allowing him precious seconds to pull out a weapon. But abruptly there was not ground, as he was falling through mid-air, hitting the ground hard a second latter.

The two were pulled harshly apart as they rolled over and over again, practically falling down the steep incline as their descent kicked up more rocks and dust, chocking the air around them. The ground began to slide with them, creating even more havoc as small rocks joined in.

Legolas struggled to breath as it was knocked form his body with each hit to the ground. The rocks were unmercifully tearing into his skin and bruising his body as he rolled faster and faster, unable to stop though he desperately tired. Digging his hands into the rocky earth Legolas hissed in pain as the rocks tore through the skin on his hands, his body weight and gravity forcing him to continue the downward decent.

The warg was not faring much better. It howled and yowled as it smashed into the ground, but suddenly that howl was silenced forever as the wargs head smashed into a large rock. Its neck snapped with a crack and the warg died.

However, the warg's death snowballed and caused more troubled for Legolas dead than alive. When the wargs heavy weight landed fully against the rock, it broke the perfect balance that it had before processed. With a groan the heavy boulder tipped over, joining the tumble, which knocked loss million of loose rocks that neither the warg nor Legolas would have been able to.

Legolas missed it all, drawing in sharp breaths as his now hurting body protested against the abuse. His head was spinning dizzily and he did not believe that he would be able to walk straight once he hit the ground for good. Suddenly he felt sliding to a suddenly stop, head down, practically at the end of the hill. Coughing harshly, he tried to sit up, tried to see what had stopped him but before he could do anything and large stone flew through the air and connected sharply with his temple and he slumped back, unconscious.

What he did not see was the two large rocks, firmly in ebbed in the ground, had made the perfect v-shape to trap Legolas's ankle after the rest of his body had gone over it. The loud crack that resounded was lost among all the other thunderous noises. All the loose rocks continued to cascade down the hill soon all but burying the prince with their heavy weight, covering the trapped ankle and securing it place.

When the silence finally descended it left a horrifying sight. Legolas lay still on the ground; rocks surrounded him up to almost his neck, blood dripped from slash above his eye and from the many cuts he had received on the trip down. Gray dust clung to his body, darkening where it stuck to the blood that also covered Legolas's body. This, along with the rapidly forming bruises, made the prince almost blend in with the ground and surrounding rocks.

SEEINGISBELIEVING

Back in camp, Aragorn and the twins began to feast on a dinner of meat and fruit. The human's early grumpiness had died down now that the heat of day had faded into late evening and he began to wonder about the were about of his elven friend

"Where do you think Legolas got off too?" he asked his brothers, biting off a strip of meat.

"It probably took a while for him to find some water." Elladan replied with a shrug. "Don't worry about him, the prince can take care of himself."

"Besides, he's probably either watching the stars or found a tree in which to sleep." Elrohir joked cheerfully. "If he's not back this evening then he will be back by morning, just you wait and see."

**TBC…**

**Great…you guys are in a lot of trouble, cause this is only the first chap and I'm already dropping cliff hangers… whoops, whoops, whoopies doodles!**

**As alwasy, feel free to tell me about any mistakes I have. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I am so, so, so sorry about the long wait. The holidays where extremely busy for me, and then my computer crashed on me and I've just got it working again… Anyway, I'm back and I promise to update more often. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year, cause you guys are awesome!**

**A huge thanks to my Beta :) **

**Disclaimer: not mine. **

Chapter Two

The sun shined forth the next morning, rising on what promised to be a blazing hot day with out a cloud in sight. Aragorn glared in the sun's direction, upset with almost everything around him. Poking the smoldering fire with a stick he gave it also a withering glance, as if he could blame it for his problems.

"Estel, stop trying to burn a hole in the ground, it won't help." Elrohir stated upon catching sight of his sibling's dark glare.

"Legolas hasn't returned yet…" Aragorn growled, digging his stick deeper into the ground with a ferocity that surprised the twins.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon. Legolas can look after himself." Elladan reassured, though his grey eyes suggested the uncertainty he had on the first part of his statement.

"Don't you understand?" Aragorn almost shouted, jumping to his feet as his temper got the better of him. "Legolas does not just _leave_ like that! He-he has never, _never, _just gotten up and left before! Something could have happened to him… We _need_ to be out there searching for him."

Elladan and Elrohir started at their brother with shock etched on their faces. Rare was the occasion that the young man would lose his temper, especially with them. Giving each other a furtive glance, they decided without having to say a word that maybe they did indeed need to rethink their position on the situation.

"Your right, Estel. Forgive us." Elladan said softly, watching as Aragorn seemed to deflate in front of them, sinking to sit in the soft dirt with a forlorn expression on his face.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that" he muttered in shame, head bowed. However, when the human did meet their eyes, determination shone forth like the sun at noon from his eyes. "But, we have to find him. I was being serious about that."

"Well, first thing first." Elrohir said, already strapping his sword around his waist. "Which way did Legolas go?"

Silence reigned in the clearing at this simple question.

"He had to leave footprints behind or something of the sort that Estel could track." Elladan ventured, glancing between his siblings.

"No…" Aragorn said almost too soft for the elven hearing to have caught. "No." he repeated louder. "There was a breeze last night. It is too dry and the wind must have blown over any of his prints that ever where there. Elves leave to light of impressions to last long."

"Do you have any other plans?" Elrohir asked, slowly taking up pacing as this new problem presented itself.

"We know that Legolas didn't go north, as that is the way we came." Elladan said, his voice thoughtful as crouched down, drawing the four directions into the dry dirt with his finger. Aragorn stood up, joining Elrohir behind Elladan as they examined the crude symbols.

"That leaves us with three directions and three of us." Aragorn mused, idly rubbing his chin as he thought.

"We are not splitting up, if that's what you are thinking!" Elladan exclaimed almost as soon as the words left Aragorn's lips. "There is a strong possibility that there is something dangerous out there. We don't need anyone else disappearing."

Elrohir nodded his agreement, voicing another concern with a sideward glance at Aragorn. "Not only do we need to find Legolas, but we need to find more water as well." Legolas had left them with one full water skin, but that wouldn't last long in the rapidly increasing heat.

"We can look as we search." Aragorn said with finality, already moving to gather up his gear. "If we are not splitting up, I would say that we should go south…"

Within minutes, they had their camp torn down and the brothers where spreading out within eye sight of each other. A mark was etched into the bark of a tree pointing south, just in case Legolas came back. Sweat was already beginning to form on Aragorn's body, the air around them to warm for comfort. This time, however, not a world of complaint left his lips.

SEEINGISBELIEVING

To the west of his friends, Legolas twitched, fighting to come out of unconsciousness. A soft moan escaped his lips as his eyelids fluttered, his eyelashes dark against his pale features, before they opened.

His head _hurt_…nor was it the only part of his body that did, Legolas quickly discovered. Agony was shooting up his left leg and his chest felt like there where tight bands wrapped around it when he tried to breath, and that was not to mention all the other small hurts that were scattered across his body.

A loud hiss broke forth from his lips as Legolas attempted to sit up, and he instantly stilled. After a moment the flare of pain died down and Legolas again attempted to move. Going extremely slowly, the prince eased himself into a semi-upright position, holding himself up on his elbows. The stones scattered across his upper body went tumbling at the movement, rolling off his chest and joining the millions of other stones around him, it was a miracles they hadn't covered him completely.

"By the Valar..." Legolas moaned softly under his breath, finally able to see what deep trouble he was really in. He would never be able to extract himself from all those stones; he couldn't even wiggle his legs from underneath it all, the only parts of his body that he could easily move were his arms…and even that was more painful that he wanted to admit. Dirt had crammed itself into the gashes that the warg had left him with, making it practically useless.

Before Legolas could contemplate very much more, his strength failed him and he crashed back to the ground, breathing heavily from the exertion. Twisting his head to the side, Legolas felt despair beginning to well up in his heart…

This was not going to end well for him, his only hope was that Aragorn and the twins could find him in time. Moving carefully, Legolas rested his aching head on his uninjured arm, and slowly drifted back to sleep…

The pattern happened several more times; Legolas would awake, only to become exceedingly frustrated with his inability to do anything at all and, after his energy was spent, he would again enter the painless realm of sleep. For a whole day, this continued, until Legolas had spent almost two full days under the crushing weight of the rocks.

And the next time Legolas awakened, he felt ten times worse than before….his heart was pounding painfully hard and every breath hurt. Moaning restlessly the elf opened his eyes, before closing them again. He was hot…so hot. This scared him, elves did not get hot, but yet he was.

Too tired and in misery to figure out the puzzle, Legolas shifting restlessly, allowing his head to roll off his arm as his breaths began to come in shallow while perspiration beaded his brow, making the wound there burn with the salty moisture. Looking up at the sky, he realized that it was almost mid-afternoon.

_Estel must be complaining nonstop about the heat_… the prince though hazily. Suddenly he found himself wishing very much that his best friend was with him. _If Aragorn was here he could help me._

Suddenly, Legolas jerked, sitting up as best as he could despite the fiery pain it re-woke in his body and the wave of vertigo. He could have sworn he had heard Estel speaking to him…and there he was! Legolas smiled full out as his eye lighted on the man who was standing, leaning against a large rock a few feet from the elf.

"Estel, mellon-nin, you don't know how happy I am to see you!" Legolas cried, blinking rapidly when Aragorn began to go in and out of focus, his outline blurry. The man smiled down at the elf, but did not make any move to help.

"You must help me, Aragorn, I can't do it myself. I have already tried." Legolas said, puzzled at his friend's unusual behavior. "Estel…"

Aragorn still stood there, smiling pleasantly. Legolas sighed in exasperation, glaring at his friend before gently lowering himself back to the ground, too weak to hold himself up like that for long. His headache was beginning to intensify as the agony in his other wounds grew as well.

Closing his eyes, Legolas breathed deeply, grimacing as his bruised and perhaps broken ribs protested. Finally he reopened them; looking to see if Aragorn had come to his senses…only the man was gone.

"Aragorn!" he shouted, eyes searching the area as far as he could, looking for his friend. "Estel, this isn't funny!" he yelled again, breaking off in a cough as his dry throat protested.

Water…the single thought made Legolas realize his burning thirst, which had gone unnoticed till now. He had water…didn't he? That was the very reason he had left Aragorn and the twins in the first place, to find water.

Legolas glanced around, wondering where the three waters skins he had collected had gotten too. He spotted one, a couple feet below him while it looked like the others were buried underneath the pounds of rocks.

Shifting and struggling, Legolas tried to twist and turn, looking for some way to be able to reach the water skin. Sweat began to roll off his face as the prince ground his teeth together, invertible causing himself more pain by attempting to move. Within a few minutes of self inflicted pain, Legolas slumped to the ground, defeated. Blood was again dripping again from the wound to his head, but he didn't have the energy to brush it away.

"Aragorn, why won't you help me…" he wondered aloud, closing his eyes against the sun's harsh glare.

SEEINGISBEELIEVING

Frustration radiated off a seething Aragorn. Dropping his gear onto the ground with disgust, he glared at Elladan and Elrohir who had called him over, obviously choosing to stop the search for the night.

"Why have we stopped? We can keep going!" he growled, spreading his feet and crossing his arms in a defensive position. Elladan sighed once, looking towards his twin for support before turning slowly to face his youngest sibling.

"Estel," he said softly. "It is dark. There is no way that we can continue to search." He explained. Darkness had indeed fallen over the land, leaving only the glittering stars to light their path and give comfort to the traveler as the moon hid behind a cloud, not showing its face this night to help them keep going.

"But Legolas―"

"Legolas will have to be fine for one more night." Elrohir said softly, "I promise we will be up by dawns first light looking for him."

"What if that's not soon enough?" Aragorn whispered, sinking down to sit next to his discarded pact on the hard ground. He wrapped both arms around his knees and drew them up to chest, feeling suddenly lost. When no answer was forth coming, Aragorn lay down on ground, resting his head on his arm and staring dejectedly into the night.

A rustle of movement caught his attention and he turned over, seeing Elladan above him. "Here, you need to drink something." He said, handing him the water skin. In the late afternoon of their second day out searching they had found a small stream of water, which Aragorn had been terrible thankful for.

"Hannon-le." Aragorn said, voice dejected, before taking it. Elladan and Elrohir glanced at each other, both able to tell that there brother was still upset with the situation.

"Legolas is probably fine. Do you know, I beat he has most likely found a nice big tree with lots of shade to talk with and lost track of the time, you know how he gets with trees!"

"If he has, I'll kill him." Aragorn muttered, voice catching oddly as he looked away from the twins.

"For what?" Elrohir asked, suddenly grinning. "Finding the shade, or scaring you half to death."

"Both!" Aragorn exclaimed, turning back. "And I'm killing him anyway…" Elladan and Elrohir smiled at that, shaking their heads in disbelief.

"Go to sleep, Estel." Elladan whispered, hitting up back over the head lightly. Aragorn let a minuscule smile cross his face at that, rolling over. The smile quickly slid from his face, though, replaced with a worried frown. Legolas was still out there somewhere, hurt or in trouble…

Aragorn felt like he had barely closed his eyes when he felt someone shaking his shoulder.

"Come one, Estel, rise and shine." One of the twins was calling, and the human's eyes slowly drifted open, before he abruptly shot up. It was still dark out, with just a tint of color of the horizon and it took a moment for the ranger's eyes to adjust. A few stars remain shinning in the sky, though the sun was making their light fade.

"Legolas didn't magically appear, did he?" he asked sarcastically, rolling over and clambering to his feet.

"What do you think?" Elrohir fired back in the same tone. Aragorn rolled his eyes, stretching his cramped muscles and yawning widely.

"Where do we plan to start?" he asked, moving quicker as his mind began to shake its self form sleep.

"We were thinking," Elladan started, handing a piece of dried meat and bread over to his human brother, "to start going south west, hoping to form a triangle of sorts with where we started from." Aragorn bobbed his head in agreement, shoving the food into his mouth and chewing thickly.

Glancing around, he saw that the twins had packed up all the rest of the camp, leaving only his bedroll out. "Hannon le." Aragorn managed through his mouth full of food. Swallowing with difficulty he threw both his pack and bedroll over his shoulder.

"I'm ready." He declared, not wanting to waste a moment that could put Legolas in further danger or something equally horrible.

SEEINGISBELIEVING

The same stars that where quickly faded into the light of a new day where providing a slight comfort for Legolas. He had awaken from his sleep sometime in the night, he wasn't sure when. The stars had provided a distraction for him, sucking him into their brightness and imaged warmth and letting him forget his burning thirst, the way the heat was draining his strength, and the all consuming agony.

And now the stars where fading from his sight, just like Aragorn had the day before…leaving him all alone. Taking in an uneven breath, the prince tried to focus on something besides the pain he was in, but that didn't help...not even a little.

**TBC…**

**I didn't have time to respond to reviews today if I wanted to post. (I actually should have **_**really**_** been getting busy doing what I need to do… *grimace of frustration*), but I assure you, every single review is greatly appreciated and loved! It makes my day to hear anything at all from you guys. THANK YOU! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I huge thanks to all those who reviewed/favortied/followed this story! It means the world to me! **

**And Thanks again to my Beta :) **

**Disclaimer: not mine**

Chapter Three

Legolas pried his heavy eyelids open, blinking hazily to clear the large orange and yellow blob that was appearing in front of his eyes. Blinking again, he discovered that it was the sun.

"Go away…" he slurred discordantly, reaching up with his good hand as if he could swat it away, hi_s_ mind jumbled and confused. Nothing happened and he groaned, flinging his hand across his eyes to shield them instead. It was so hot…

Suddenly the elf was startled out of his dream-like state when a screech rent to air. Jerking his head back around, Legolas fought a wave of dizziness, gazing up in confusion at the sky. The yellow spot had been joined by black ones…

_That's odd…_Legolas thought, trying with all his might to bring the objects into focus, instead everything just fuzzed into wave lengths of heat. Growling with frustration at his inability to perform even this simply task, Legolas gathered all his strength, forcing his eyes to focus as he strained forward. Slowly, the black object began to come closer and closer, till Legolas realized what it was. A bird, a big black bird.

"Shoo…" Legolas croaked, not wanting even the bird to see his misery. The bird did no such thing, instead swinging low and landing gracefully on a large rock next to the injured elf. "Go…go find somewhere…someone … else" the prince slurred again in a whisper, coughing as his parched mouth found it hard to form the words.

The bird merely folded his wings and settle in to wait. Legolas sighed, giving up. If the bird wanted to stay, there didn't appear that Legolas could do anything about it.

The rest of the morning passed in a haze for the elf, as he drifted in and out of consciousness. When he was awake, he wasn't truly there. Aragorn appeared to him again and again, never once lifting a finger to help him.

SEEINGISBELIEVING

Aragorn and the twins where moving steadily south west, covering ground quickly and efficiently. Legolas had now been gone three nights and what was nearing three days and everyone was on nerves. A grime silence hung over them, the only sound being that of twigs snapping and grass crackling as Aragorn passed.

The human walked with his head hanging, discouragement radiating from his face as his eyes searching for any clue on the ground that could give him an indication that someone had passed this way. Anything at all would lift his heart out of the dark hole of despair that it was sinking into.

A sudden gasp from one of his brothers had his heart racing a mile a minute.

"Come look over here!" Elrohir shouted, beckoning for them to come to his side. Rushing over Elladan and Aragorn bent over, looking with shock at what Elrohir had found.

It was a set of warg's paw prints, baked into the sun dried earth.

"That's not a good sign…" Elladan whispered, tracing the dry dirt with his finger.

"We don't know anything yet." Aragorn replied, refusing to jump to the conclusions.

"We do know that wargs are trouble." Elrohir replied, squinting up at the human as the sun's harsh glare outlined Aragorn. "We should keep following its tracts until we know more."

"I agree." Elladan voiced, staring ahead into the wilderness as if he could gather any further clues to the whereabouts of both his friend and the warg. Aragorn was already nodding in agreement, getting to his feet and brushing his hands off on his pants.

After that, the morning seemed to fly by them. Warp paw prints soon become a familiar sight, as did the realization that there was at least five to six of the dreaded animals.

That single thought had chills running up and down Aragorn's back. Any one, great elven warrior or not, faced trouble with the odds against them, so deep in his heart, he knew that these vile animals where the reason behind Legolas's disappearance.

Ahead of them, a strange shimmer caught their eyes.

"It must some sort of water…" Elrohir mused, stopping for a moment to shade his eyes. Aragorn and Elladan also came to a halt, gazing ahead at the unknown.

"That must be where the wargs are heading." Aragorn summarized, squinting slightly as he tried to see as much as the elf next to him could. "We must have gone farther south than we thought. "He added. "Because I beat that it is the same river that we keep running into, we just are on the other side this time."

"Are you really that out of it?" Elladan asked, turning to face Aragorn with a strange look written across his face. "We passed it after we crossed that gully." Aragorn frowned, remembering crossing the gully but not the stream.

"It was more like a trickle then a river at that point though," Elrohir pointed out in Aragorn's defense. Aragorn shrugged, not really caring at this amount about his lack of attention. His brother's teasing, while meaning to lighten up the atmosphere, had done the opposite for him.

Almost without thinking he had turned, ready to face Legolas, who without a doubt would be adding his opinion. But the prince was not there to offer a friendly jibe, he was gone, missing, possibly hurt or even dead for all that Aragorn knew.

The thought was almost unthinkable, and Aragorn started off again at a quicker pace as if he was determined to leave his thoughts behind in the dust. The twins glanced at each other, shooting the other worried looks before picking up their pace as well.

They caught back up with the ranger by time he had reached the crystal clear river. It bubbled merrily, slipping past without a care of the world, Aragorn, however, had stopped, kneeling instead on the ground.

"Estel?" Elladan asked in confusion, before scrunching up his nose as a powerful, vile smell hit him. "What in the name of the Valar?" he asked, covering his nose with his sleeve.

"It's a dead warg." Aragorn stated, voice filled with both large amounts of worry and dread. Elladan and Elrohir, who by now had come up behind him, could easily see the dead carcasses. It had already begun to rot.

Aragorn glanced up at his brothers, grey eyes showing how much his heart was breaking at the moment. "It was an arrow that killed It." he whispered, holding up the stem of arrow that he had broken off the wargs body. "At least six against one…" he added, breaking off as his voice threatened to crack. Looking away for a moment he gathered his composure.

"There is another one over here." Elrohir called, pointed out a second one only feet away.

"Actually, there's five total. "Elladan broke in, gazing around the dry, grass covered land. Aragorn's heart suddenly began to pound hard in his chest and he got to his feet. Five wargs dead, only one left…maybe Legolas was fine, maybe they had just missed each other, maybe this was all a misunderstanding which they would laugh about back in camp.

"What about Legolas?"He asked, the hopefulness in his voice clear as he stood, gripping the broken arrow in his hand with a death grip. "And the last warg?" Elladan shook his head, meaning he didn't know. Elrohir was closely examining the nearest warg, holding a second arrow between his finger tips. Aragorn took several steps towards them, stopping as a crack sounded underfoot. Glancing down, he picked up an arrow, now only held together in the middle by a thin strip of wood as the sides dangled uselessly between his fingers.

Dried, dark blood coated its tip, but there was not enough for the arrow to have been a direct hit. Letting the pieces fall from his limp fingers and into the dead grass, Aragorn felt slightly sick. Legolas never missed his mark, not if he could help it.

Walking swiftly towards his brothers, Aragorn saw that out of the other two warg, one had been killed with another arrow while the last had been with a knife. Elladan, however, wasn't looking down at the warg, but at something held in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Estel." He whispered, holding out a painfully familiar piece of wood. Aragorn reached out for the yew bow, suddenly struggling to breath around the lump in his throat. Elladan took a steadying breath himself. "I found it just a few feet away from this dead filth."

Elrohir reached out, putting a steadying hand on Aragorn's shoulder as he appeared that he might pass out. "Do you need a moment?" he asked, concern limning his voice.

"No! What I _need_ is to find Legolas!" Aragorn irrationally shouted, twirling away and hugging the bow close to his chest. Breathing heavily, he fought a losing battle with his emotions. This was all too much to take in, not after all the worry, the searching and the constant fear.

"It doesn't mean Legolas's dead." Elladan called out. "It just means that he lost his bow. Listen, Estel, listen to me!" he called out again when Estel didn't turn around or acknowledge him. Marching over he grabbed his youngest sibling by the shoulders and shook him slightly.

"We are _going _to keep searching till we find out the truth, all right? We don't have all the facts, just some of them. Remember that, please." Estel glanced up at his brother, tears building in his eyes.

"I will _never _believe that Legolas is dead." Aragorn whispered, struggling to get the words out. "Not till I see it with my own two eyes."

"Then what is the matter?" Elladan asked, now softly instead of so harshly. Elrohir stepped up next to them, staying silent but ready to add his advice if so needed.

"I don't know…" Aragorn whispered, his voice strangely off, refusing to met his brother's eyes. "I just _need_ to find Legolas. I need to know that this won't be the last time I see him, because the last time I did I wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing…But it'll be alright…" Aragorn finished, shakily wiping at his face before fixing his emotions back into place. "Because, we will find him, won't we?"

"Yes, yes we will." Elladan said softly, confidence growing. Elrohir meanwhile enveloped Estel in a tight hug. After a moment, they broke apart, and Estel let out a slight smile,

"I'm ready. " Aragorn said his voice more normal now. Nodding with understanding, the twins allowed Aragorn to lead the way back to the dead wargs. A sudden caw from the skies had all three of them gazing up at the heavens, eyes squinting against the bright light.

"That's a vulture…" Aragorn said in bewilderment, slowing to a stop.

"Probably here for the wargs." Elladan said, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he continued on his way, gathering the arrows from the carcasses.

"No, it's circling over the gully." Aragorn said stubbornly, not dropping his eyes from the creature as he followed it with his eyes and feet, leading him over to the edge of the cliff. Glancing down at the ground beneath his feet, he wished he hadn't. Strange droplets of something dried and brown littered the dirt and he knew without having to examine it that it was blood.

Heart thudding with sudden fear and realization, Aragorn leapt to the side, peering down into the rocky bottoms. Dust covered the area, making it hard to decipher what was truly at the bottom. The sun beat right down, as it was high noon, and Aragorn struggle to see past its hot rays.

"Elladan, Elrohir!" he yelled suddenly, catching a sight that had him down on all fours so that he could see better. Squinting, he waited for the twins with their better eye sight to join him. "Isn't that something green down there…see it, there, against the browns of the earth…and ― and something reflecting off the sunlight."

Aragorn was all for clambering down the steep gully that instant, but Elladan's hand stopped him. "Wait, just a moment." There was a strained moment of silence, and then the twins let out a sharp gasp.

"It's him." Elrohir breathed."Legolas is down there. _We've_ got to get down there." Aragorn was two steps ahead, literally. Scrambling over the side he was half standing half sitting as he slide and scrambled his way down.

**TBC…**

**Well, surprise, surprise! They already found Legolas! I'm sure that you are all staring at the screen in shock because didn't drag out Legolas's torture…or have I? Anyway, tell me what you think! **

**Review Responses:**

**KatieElizabethGrace: **Thanks so much!

**Dean'sAngel6: **Thanks! ;)

**Dragon Elf: **For once nothing did!...well not really, nothing that complicated matters. I'm sure you are shocked! (heheh, but that doesn't that nothing else will happen, as I am sure you have guessed!)

**Le miserable whovian: **I'm finally doing it! Hooray!

**Nifea di Luna: **Thank you so much! (At least the waite wasn't as long as last time!)

**LotR-HP-PJ: **I know, I was a little bit too. Actually, to be honest, I was disappointed with quite a lot… that's the problem with loving a book so much. Though I did _love _seeing Legolas again! Thanks, mellon-nin!

**Lusse Eldalion: **Your wish is my command; I mean they found him resemble quickly. I didn't draw it out like I could have. Thanks so much!

**AmazingWriter123: **I posted as soon as I was able! (ok, maybe a little bit of lie there, but it was sooner than last time! :) Thanks!


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